Tag Archive: feminism

Facebook is a blessing, and it sure as anything is a curse. I think it’s actually mostly a curse. It has become a staple of my age group (and even the generation before mine, as I was oh-so-thrilled to see my mom’s name come across wanting to add me as a friend ). As a medical student, it is really the only way to keep tabs on what the “outsiders” are doing with their lives, as yours is in a stand still. I say facebook is a curse because until you become acutely aware of how much your peers live’s are progressing, you are really not too upset about how mundane yours is. It is until you come across “Album Three of the World’s Most Perfect Wedding” (or its equivalent) that you are totally and completely in the blissful bubble of life as a medical student. Which I think equates to no life at all.

I started thinking about the time warp of medical school last year when I went home for Thanksgiving. My best friend from childhood whom I have known for roughly 20 years, announced to me that her and her boyfriend of a year were getting engaged soon and are even looking at rings. She asked my advice on what rings I liked. I sat there with her for an hour, flipping through catalogs and websites, saying “Oh this one is nice,” and so on. The truth was that I was totally clueless as to what advice to give on picking out an engagement ring. I realized at that moment that even IF (and that is a big if, so it seems) I had that special someone in my life right now I would not be ready for picking out rings. Or flowers. Or places to live. Or compromising on last names (I have always wanted to hyphenate). Or deciding where to spend the holidays. Or any of that “rest of your life” stuff that so many of my peers have already dove head first into. It’s not that I don’t think I could ever be ready for that; I just think that my life as a 20-something has been time-warped away from me and I am so focused on only what is going on in my immediate schooling that my brain just rejects thoughts of engagement rings. Or anything ring-ish.

I’m definitely not criticizing getting married right now. If you are lucky enough to have found the person you want to spend the rest of your days with, by all means, lock that down! I’m just stating that at this point, I can’t imagine myself saying “I do”.

And so the warp continues. By the time I get out of medical school, I will have hit 26, and as women we all know, 30 is right around the corner at that point. By that time all the people that said their vows during my second year will have a soccer team of kids. I hope I at least have a dog.